Bombshell
by Skylark Evanson
Summary: Why was he so attached to this girl?


**A/N: Drabbling. Mostly friendship but has definite hints of romance.**

**Sidenote: Title was impossible *headdesk***

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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><p><strong><span>Bombshell<span>**

He passed the kitchen, still trying to fathom the proceedings of the day. Training exercise. He couldn't remember that. End of the world, doomsday, etc. Yeah, he could remember that.

He remembered the fear and the pain and the panic and the heartache and how much he'd screamed for Artemis... He'd even hurt M'gann's bioship. The repeated hitting and the screaming and how much he'd denied that she was dead...

Logic struck. He knew she wasn't dead because some part of him was still conscious. His scientific mindset was still aware of the training exercise and the, and the... Wally had no idea it was a training exercise. He'd screamed for the archer because he wanted that damn archer to be alive right now, to be right there beside him, annoying and rude.

But she wasn't there. She was _dead_. _Dead_. The team had lost their archer, had let the world fall apart. Artemis had _died_.

And why did it hurt so bad? Why did it feel like someone had just taken a chunk of his heart and bludgeoned it for a few hours? Why was it so bad to lose her? Why not be worried about Miss M? Or Kaldur? Yeah, he was worried about Kaldur. They'd been friends for a while now, good friends. Really good friends, yeah, Wally was worried about Kaldur.

He had lied to himself. He lied so often. He had known Artemis was dead. It hurt so much that it felt like his whole body was about to be ripped apart. She was the one who treated him like crap. She was the one who bothered the Hell out of him. It was Artemis who fueled him to be better than the rest of them. Just so he could be better than her.

With her gone, he had no drive, no reason to live. He had to convince himself that she was alive. So he could help the others.

Why was he so attached to this girl?

Reality struck and a sound caught his attention from the kitchen. His feet paused, one hovering over the ground for a heartbeat before he made a swift retreat to look through the open-air entry. "Artemis?" he asked softly, uncertain whether he wanted to go in and face the girl or not. He wasn't sure what he'd say if he didn't watch his words carefully enough not to mention he was known for slips of the tongue. And spelling "fail" wrong.

The blonde archer lay on the island in the middle of the kitchen, eyes dark with grief as fear gripped her heart in an iron fist. Her legs were tucked to her chest as she lay curled up in the fetal position, cell phone clutched to her body like her life depended on it. After just slipping out of a coma, she was feeling emotional and broken and small and weak. This was not a good time for shit like this to be happening. One fist gripped a handful of her hair while the other continued to hold onto her phone for dear life...

He pushed his way in, braving the consequences. He wasn't stupid; she looked like she needed a friend. "Artemis." He didn't ask any questions (not yet anyways), and just stroked her hair for a second, knowing that that comforted people. It was what his Aunt Iris always did to try and calm him down and make the hurt go away. "Artemis." He tried to watch her face and get her settled down, but he just watched tears trace her soft skin.

She managed to sit up after a few moments and to take a few deep breaths, still desperately clutching at her phone. Now silence prayers were passing her lips, words being formed but not said.

Wally gingerly took her hands and held them in his own, bending his knees slightly to see if he could get her to look him in the eyes. "Artemis, look at me." He straightened up a little bit when her gaze was cast his way. It fell to their hands, and he felt her press a button on her phone. She looked down again, body still shaking and shivering with this cold dread that plagued her. "Look at me," he instructed again, voice a tad firmer with the archer.

This time, she held eye contact, albeit reluctantly. She knew she was crying. Her cheeks were stained with wet trails of cold evidence. "What do you want?" she asked, words uncertain like she didn't know how to approach the situation.

Of course, he didn't know either, but at least he was willing to give it a shot. If he felt so strongly about her after she died, what kept him from caring about her while she was still alive? "I'm here to help," he said softly, trying to pinpoint exactly what was wrong. Her teary eyes made it nearly impossible.

Artemis swallowed hard and squeezed his hands. If he was the only one she could talk to, so be it. "My mom... She won't answer her phone."

Something so simple was stupid. Wally almost unleashed a laugh until he remembered that Artemis, the most BAMF chick he knew, was crying her eyes out over this. He kept quiet. "I... don't understand." Why lie? He didn't understand. His mom never picked up when he called. Basic West stuff.

Her features hardened, and the BAMF Wally knew and loved returned. (Wait, _loved_?) "I just got out of a coma, Wally." She was shivering at his touch when one of his hands pulled away from hers to touch her arm. She was surprised he was being so gentle and sweet. It was so... not Wally. "I got you guys killed." She swallowed hard again. "If Manhunter hadn't been able to get Megan out of the scenario, we'd all be dead. Because I theoretically died." Another sapphire tear streaked down her face. "So I died, slipped into a coma, and nearly killed my friends. I want to talk to my mom." Her stomach clenched, the worst possible case scenarios swimming through her mind, each like a bomb ready to go off.

Much to Kid Flash's surprise, he felt the archer lean into him and wrap her muscled arms around his toned torso. "It's okay," he murmured, voice scarcely louder than a whisper. "Nothing's wrong, I promise you."

Her eyes hardened, and her sharp voice cut in. "My mom's in a wheelchair, Wally! She can't defend herself in Gotham!" She held onto the redhead, hands now balling up in his clothes. She needed someone to hold onto. She couldn't lose her mom. Not after Jade. This couldn't happen again, no, not again, please not again... "I want my mom." Her eyes were red with burning tears. Her lips were pulled tight with a grimace of the pain that was her heartache. Dying. Comatose. Living. She needed to make sure everything was alright in the real world. She had to.

Wally kept Artemis tucked against his chest, listening to her breathing, listening to her cry. He was gently holding her, knowing she just needed a friend.

But he wanted to be so much more than that.

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><p><strong>AN: I just feel like something so tiny and insignificant would push an already unstable Artemis off the edge. So… this is the result.**

**Review?**

**~Sky**


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